


in the aftermath

by dreee



Series: still kicking [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Depression, Original Pokemon Region, all OCs - Freeform, alternative title: amara makes bad choices, the downsides to being a child prodigy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22901794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreee/pseuds/dreee
Summary: Amara has lived the dream. She collected badges and fought her way to the seat of champion of the Giran Region, all before her twelfth birthday. Now, she's nineteen and stronger than ever--so why can't she seem to care about anything any more?But when a little girl needs her help, Amara needs to make a decision. Can she find it in herself to care about the world enough to try to help it again?
Series: still kicking [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646176





	1. it's a hermit's life for me

**Author's Note:**

> This will (hopefully) be part of an ongoing series. The Giran Region will have all the pokemon in it I like except for the ones I don't, so expect to see all generations represented. Mechanically, I think it works more like the games than the show, but I'm mostly making it up as I go along. Feedback is appreciated!

Amara lay flat out on her back, the coarse wood of the porch pressing into her shoulders. Nearby, wind rustled its way through a lush green canopy so thick, only dapples of light could make their way to the forest floor. Her house was in the middle of it all, carefully built just under the lowest branches. She’d done that on purpose, and was pretty proud of how it turned out. Even if the roof took more damage that it might have, nobody would be able to see the house, even from above. There were no roads anywhere nearby, meaning the edge of the forest was a twenty mile hike through brush and rivers and streams. Privacy, as absolute as she could make it.

She’d only been living here a few months, but her plan was working so far. She hadn’t seen another human since she’d first set foot in the forest. She was safe. She _felt_ safe, she told herself. She was here, all by herself with the Pokemon she loved, completely carefree with no responsibility larger than figuring out dinner. Exactly how she wanted it. And if her team was laying scattered around her on the porch, not venturing into the forest to explore or playing with each other, just like they had been since she first lay down this morning, just like they did the day before and the day before that... well, that wasn’t something she needed to dwell on.

Houdoom sighed, its too-warm breath billowing over her stomach. It shifted, adjusting itself so that it was laying further on top of her. Absently, she scratched its ears. It had been with her the longest, right from the beginning. Back then, it’d been nothing more than a runty Houndour with an attitude problem. She’d been seven, unspeakably lonely, and with an attitude to match. The little pup had looked her in the eye and they’d sparked a fire in each other, one that couldn’t be contained for nearly a decade.

Until, suddenly, it was gone.

She still loved it of course. That hadn’t changed. She just couldn’t remember why they’d decided to run around the world together. Why they’d thrown themselves into battle after battle, always hungry for more. These days, going much further than the porch seemed unnecessary.

She’d had plans when she’d first arrived. Not lofty ones, those days were done, but still—she’d wanted to explore. See what this forest had to offer. Maybe plant a garden. At least she’d finished building the house. One of these days she’d get around to furniture. If it weren’t so much hassle, she’d like to fly over to the nearest town and pick some up—she didn’t need anything that fancy, after all, and money wasn’t exactly a problem. But if she left, she’d be recognized and that was how problems started. In her experience, once challengers started coming, they didn’t stop.

So she slept in her sleeping bag. She’d done it for years, when she was still travelling. What difference did it make now? She closed her eyes, blocking out the green forest. Houndoom sighed, sending another plume of hot air over her belly. She should probably think about making dinner for them soon. They tended to scrounge berries throughout the day, leaving one at a time, but dinner was one of the few things she still managed to do. She opened her eyes, checking the angle of the sun. She could probably put it off a little longer… but then again, there was always the risk that if she didn’t start now, she might not start at all. She reached over and scratched Houndoom’s chin. Her friend obliged, picking its head up to lean into her hand.

“Hungry?” she asked. It leapt to its feet, its thin tail whipping back and forth, all traces of sleepiness gone in a flash. Umbreon perked up with a hopeful trill, the movement jostling the porch swing under it into swaying. Amara laughed. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

She heaved herself up to her feet, shaking off the vertigo dancing in front of her eyes. “Can you two get the fire ready? And see if Braviary will get us some water?” The two Pokémon dashed off.

Amara ducked inside the house. It was small, consisting of only two rooms, but it was so sparsely decorated it felt too big at times. In the first room, a chair sat in the corner next to a small cabinet. The rest of the room was empty, except for the bits of dust collecting around the edges. The next room—which would eventually be separated by a door, when she got around to it—was empty except for her sleeping bag.

She yanked open the cabinet. Inside were stew packets, her own recipe. Dump one or two in a pot of water, add extra meat or vegetables if so desired, and cook until ready. It was a good, low effort system, especially good for travelling. She grabbed two packets, ignoring the dwindling supply, and shut the cabinet with the same amount of force she’d opened it with.

By the time she got outside, Umbreon and Houndoom had a pile of firewood ready and waiting. The firepit was a simple thing, just sand with rings of stones. A great black pot rested on top of it, turned so that the handles wouldn’t catch on the iron stakes on either side of it. She glared at it. It had seemed like a good system when she’d first thought of it, before she’d realized exactly how heavy that pot was. She squatted next to it, wrapping her arms as far around it as they would go. She took a moment to compose herself, then lifted, grunting with the effort. Then, even as her muscles groaned, she performed her shuffle with ease born out of practice—knee up, shimmy the pot around until she could reach a handle, knee down, other knee up, let go with her other hand and grab the handle before the pot could fall. After that, it was just a matter of shuffling and positioning until she could drop the pot onto the stakes.

Houndoom chuffed happily when it was done, sparks flying out of its mouth.

“Not yet, not yet,” she snapped, still panting. “Let me get the wood in place first.”

Houndoom sat down and closed its mouth, looking properly chagrined, but its tail was wagging a mile a minute. She shook her head with a smile, and knelt to arrange the wood.

She’d only gotten the first piece in place when a scream ripped through the forest.

Amara was on her feet in a second. “That was a person,” she whispered half to herself.

She looked down instinctively, her heart pounding an erratic rhythm against her collarbone. Houndoom was already there, whining softly. She hadn’t even heard it move. Its eyes looked up at her, afraid but hopeful, pleading. Around her, all her other Pokemon had come to attention. Even Greninja had abandoned the shadows it liked to hide in to assess the trees with cold eyes.

She swallowed. The old fear, the feeling of the walls closing in around her throat surfaced, threatening to bowl her over. Another scream tore through the forest and she flinched. The sound resonated in her ears digging deeper and deeper even after it was gone. Houndoom whined, shifting back and forth on its paws. Breathing deeply through her nose, she forced herself to meet its gaze. And nodded.

Houndoom took off like a shot, pausing only to make sure she was following. She jogged after it, Umbreon following silently at her heels. The others would wait. Two was more than enough to protect her, and there was food in the house. Her house was built well, but not well enough to keep out the many determined creatures that called the forest home.

She ducked under branches and skirted bushes, using Houndoom’s gleaming silver horns as a guide. Already her breath was coming in short gasps. When had she gotten this out of shape? Pushing the thought away, and doing her best to ignore the growing stitch in her side, she pressed on. Houndoom was pulling further and further ahead, but she’d expected that much. She couldn’t have kept up with it on her best day, if she were in the best shape of her life. And besides, it would be careful. As silly and carefree as it seemed at times, Houndoom was one of the most capable Pokémon she’d ever met. And she was lucky enough to call it her partner.

Ahead of her, Houndoom snarled. Amara picked up the pace, now truly heaving for breath. She squinted as she ran, looking for that first hint of fire, but it didn’t come. Whether that was good or bad, she wasn’t sure.

She and Umbreon burst into a clearing and skidded to a stop. Houndoom stood in front of them. It was perfectly still, head lowered to the ground, and snarling in a way that never failed to send a chill straight to Amara’s bones.

It was staring down an Ariados perched over a small, unmoving body.

Amara took her place behind Houndoom. Umbreon stayed where it was. None of her team liked to interfere in each other’s fights.

“Back away,” she warned the wild Pokemon. “Back away, and we’ll let you go.”

The Ariados hissed, flaring its retractable fangs.

She sighed, gaze flickering down to the body for a second. Why was it so still? Were they too late? “Fine. Houndoom, Taunt.”

Houndoom’s tail whipped back and forth, its mouth opening into a fanged grin. The Ariados lunged forward, prey forgotten. It swiped impatiently at Houndoom, but her partner dodged so easily it would be pathetic if she hadn’t seen the same trick work so many times before.

“Fire fang,” she said, wondering at the anger in her own voice. She’d seen wild Pokemon provoked into attacking people, or chase people away from their dens, but this? Her hand curled into a fist. Houndoom, perhaps feeding off her anger, opened its jaws wide, allowing white-hot flames to spurt out of both sides. Even before it clamped down on its opponent, she knew it was finished. Overkill, really, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel bad about it.

The last of the flames died down and the Ariados fell to the ground, completely unconscious. She toyed for a minute with the idea of catching it, just to get it out of her forest, but then she’d have to deal with it… and besides, she didn’t have any Pokeballs with her.

Plus, she had something more important to think about.

She rushed over to the prone form. It was a kid, a little girl, no more than nine or ten. Amara pressed her fingers to her throat and could have cried when she found a fluttering pulse. How the kid even got here, so far from the nearest town or even _road_ was a mystery that would have to wait. She scooped her up, wincing at the weight, but it was a little late to regret not brining Metagross along.

Umbreon appeared at her side, giving her a soft growl.

Amara frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Umbreon flicked its large ears back, glancing around. She followed its gaze and saw… Eyes. Dozens of them, gleaming with fury between the trees. A few skittered out of the shadows, hissing their rage, and confirming her suspicions. More Ariados, to avenge their fallen brethren. She looked over her shoulder. They were completely surrounded.

Amara growled under her breath. “We don’t have _time_ for this.”

Houndoom and Umbreon flanked her, the former snarling and slashing its tail, letting anyone who cared to know it was ready for a fight, and the latter quietly assessing the enemy around it. Any other time, she’d have given them the brawl she knew they wanted. The difference in power mattered less if there were enough on the other side.

“Sorry, guys. Houndoom, use Protect. Umbreon, Dark pulse.”

Houndoom leapt in front of her, its fur brushing her thighs as the translucent blue barrier shimmered into place around them. Umbreon braced itself, eyes closed, as its yellow rings began to pulse white with power. The Ariados lunged for it, now the only one exposed, each one readying its own move. If she’d cared enough, she could probably figure out what. But it didn’t matter.

The closest Ariados had barely covered half the distance between them when the wave of inky darkness engulfed them. It swirled harmlessly around Houndoom’s barrier, blocking the battlefield from sight. Colors and shapes danced across her vision, phantoms produced by eyes that couldn’t handle the complete lack of light. She’d heard of the same thing happening to spelunkers or miners, deep in the earth and away from all light. She wouldn’t know. She’d never had a reason to go to a mine. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it was gone.

The light assaulted her eyes painfully. Amara quickly shut her eyes and counted to ten before opening them again. The blue barrier was gone, but the Ariados weren’t. They were scattered around the clearing, far more than before. Some must have fallen out of the trees. Not one was so much as twitching.

Umbreon shook out its coat and glanced around, ears perked hopefully.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Amara chuckled. “I think you got them all. Keep an eye out for me though, alright? We need to get this kid back to the house.”

Amara started back for the house. She could be grateful, at least, that this was a kid and not a full-grown adult. Or even that the kid wasn’t any older. Amara was definitely going to have to start working out after this. The trek back seemed infinitely longer than it had on the way there, and by the end of it, Amara was dripping with sweat. Houndoom knocked the door open for her as all the other Pokemon followed on her heels, at once curious and concerned.

She laid the kid down on her sleeping bag. Houndoom lit the lantern without being asked and carried it over with the handle between its teeth. To her relief, she didn’t see any blood. Something that looked like a bruise was forming on the kid’s forehead, but a quick probe assured Amara that it was nothing serious, not even serious enough to have knocked her out. She leaned down and sniffed surreptitiously, and was instantly hit by a wave of drowsiness so strong she nearly lost her balance. Greninja steadied her, accepting her silent thanks with a tiny nod.

She scooted back to lean herself against the wall, digging her nails into her palms until the last bit of drowsiness faded away.

“Sleep powder,” she said by way of explanation. The relief in the room was instant and palpable. “She’ll be okay, we just need to wait for her to wake up. In the meantime, let’s wait outside. Let her have some room to breathe.”

Her team filed out reluctantly. Umbreon hesitated the longest, offering her a questioning trill.

Amara opened her mouth to reassure it, then stopped. “Actually, that’s a good idea. If you stay and keep an eye on her, I can get dinner started.”

Umbreon chirped, pressing its side against her calf, before curling up on Amara’s discarded pillow.

She turned to go, stopping in the door for a long second before her growling stomach urged her on. She sighed and shook her head. That kid was going to have a lot of questions to answer when she finally woke up.


	2. kids these days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara picks some fights.

Amara’s questions, it turned out, would have to wait. The kid slept through the night without so much as stirring. By lunchtime, Amara was starting to get worried. The kid was small, so it made sense that the effects would be stronger, but the twelve hour mark had come and gone a while ago. There was a doctor a few towns over, a good one, who also happened to be a friend of hers. Someone who could be counted on not to blab if Amara came to visit. But her doctor friend lived in a closed-packed suburb and worked on a busy street.

Amara had just decided the risk was worth it when Umbreon’s warning chirp came out the window. Waving the rest of the Pokemon back, she rushed inside.

The girl was sitting up, blearily rubbing at one eye. Amara felt something in her stomach unravel.

“Hey,” Amara said softly, lowering herself to sit cross-legged against the door frame. “How are you feeling?”

The girl seemed not to register her words, staring instead at Umbreon. The Pokemon stared back, ears pricked.

“You’re not…” The girl’s words trailed off, seemingly of their own accord. Her gaze wandered around the room, searching for some note of familiarity before finally landing on Amara. The girl’s eyebrows drew together. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Amara,” she replied patiently. “How are you feeling?”

The girl pause so long Amara nearly repeated the question, before finally saying. “Weird. Groggy, I guess. Where am I?” Her eyebrows drew even closer together, now almost comically crunched. “And… How did I get here?”

Amara frowned. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was walking through the woods. Then…” The kid shrugged, but her eyes darted to the floor. Amara filed that information away for later.

“You were attacked by some wild Pokemon. You’ve been asleep since yesterday. And as for how you got here, I carried you.”

The girl’s face paled.

Amara attempted to summon her best chiding look. “Look, I know you’re too young to have a Pokemon of your own. You should know better than trying to explore on your own. These woods are a dangerous place if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

The groggy confusion on the girl’s face was gone in an instant, replaced by tightly held anger. “I do have a Pokemon, and I don’t need a lecture from a stranger.”

“No,” Amara snapped, “you just needed to be rescued by one. The wild Pokemon in these woods are strong. It’s not a good place to be walking around. Even if you do have a Pokemon, you said the last thing you remember is walking. Wild Pokemon aren’t going to waltz up and ask for a battle. Some will just start, and leave you to catch up.”

Umbreon’s tail twitched, catching Amara’s eye. She took it for the warning it was and backpedaled. “Look, I don’t mean to lecture you. Are you hungry? We won’t have much until dinner, but I have some berries and things like that.”

The girl nodded, and Amara relaxed slightly. She hadn’t been around kids since she’d been one herself.

She returned with a bowlful of berries. Her food stock, which had been dwindling before was now entirely depleted. So was her stock of bowls. And just about everything else. She should probably do something about that.

Setting the bowl down next to the girl, she said, “You know, I never did get your name.”

The girl popped a berry in her mouth. “It’s Klia. Well Klia’s my middle name. But I don’t want you to call me by my first name, so I’m not going to tell you what it is.”

Amara blinked. “Uh, okay. Klia then. What were you doing all the way out in the woods, Klia?”

Klia’s hand, which had been steadily picking through the berries, stilled. “Well, actually… You know how earlier I said I have a Pokemon?”

“Uh-huh,” Amara said, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s more like I _almost_ have a partner Pokemon.”

“Meaning?”

Klia ducked her head and mumbled, “I was out looking for one.”

“I see,” Amara said slowly. “Well, you’re safe now. You should probably rest up a little more, but when you’re ready my Pokemon and I would be happy to take you back home.”

The girl perked up. “You have Pokemon?”

Amara shared an amused glance with Umbreon. “Sure do.”

The girl followed her gaze and jumped. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Or—did I? I must have thought I was imagining things.”

“Umbreon’s good at not being seen when it doesn’t want to be, so don’t worry about it. More importantly, how are you feeling? Still woozy?”

Klia shook her head. “Almost back to normal.”

Amara nodded and stood up. “Good.”

“Where are you going?” A look passed through the girl’s eyes, something close to worry, but it was gone before Amara could put her finger on it.

“Just outside. Umbreon will stay with you, but I need to start getting some things together for dinner.”

The girl nodded, just slowly enough that Amara hesitated in the door.

“Look,” she said. “You’ll be safe here, okay? Umbreon and the others will protect you. And I won’t be more than a shout away.”

Klia nodded again, no more convincingly than the first time.

“Alright then,” Amara said. The kid continued to stare at her. Amara paused for another beat, then half ran out the door.

*******

Amara glowered across the fire. The kid was eating, at least, but she hadn’t been able to get more than two words out of her at a time. At first, Amara had thought being around so many Pokemon was intimidating, but now Klia was sitting close enough to brush elbows with Greninja and had Umbreon in her lap… and still, the kid was lifting the spoon like it weighed a hundred pounds.

Maybe it was her cooking, Amara decided. She couldn’t fault the kid for that. As much as Pokemon liked her food, for some reason, people never did. She didn’t understand it herself—the food always tasted fine to her, but it was something she’d come to accept as a universal law. She snuck another bite of tonight’s stew. Sure, it could probably use a pinch more salt, if she had any, but by her standards it wasn’t half bad.

Not far away, a twig snapped, just loud enough to be heard over the crackling of the fire. The kid didn’t seem to notice, but she watched as each member of her team came subtly to attention. She caught Greninja’s eye, raising a questioning eyebrow. _Is it worth checking out?_ Greninja hesitated, before sliding a glance at the kid sitting next to it. Amara gave the barest of nods. Greninja was right. Normally, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But none of them wanted the kid getting caught up in another firefight.

Greninja slid off the log in one smooth motion, already striding forward by the time its foot hit the ground. As it moved away from the fire, its color seemed to bleed away, leaving only what appeared to be water in its place. Another step, and even that was gone. Amara flicked her gaze down, tracking Greninja by the slight movements in the leaf litter.

“Amara?”

“Hmm,” she said, still scanning the forest.

“I’ve been thinking.”

Amara frowned, gaze snapping back to Klia. That was a dangerous phrase, one she remembered using a lot when she was younger, usually right before doing something incredibly dangerous.

“Okay,” Amara said cautiously.

The kid squirmed, hands flexing around her still half-full bowl of stew. “What if… I didn’t go home in the morning.”

Amara stared at her, working her way through the sentence again. “I’m…. going to need a little more to work with than that.”

Klia flinched, her thin shoulders hunching. “I… came here to do something.” She looked up at Amara, eyes suddenly blazing. “I want to have a Pokemon of my own. I want to be able to explore and win battles and meet all sorts of people. I’ll do whatever I can to help out, I’ll make dinner or gather food or whatever you want me to, but please, help me.”

A loud beep burst out of Amara’s pocket, making her jump. She fished out her phone and looked at the display, swearing under her breath.

“Hold that thought,” she said gruffly, yanking the phone up to her ear. “What?”

“Wow, you actually answered.” The voice came through tinny and staticky, but the humor was unmistakable. “I think that might be a first.”

“Reception here sucks. What do you want?”

“Hi, Lucas, thanks for calling, it’s been so long,” he said, pitching his voice into a falsetto. “You’re my hero, Lucas.”

Mouthing an apology to the kid, she got to her feet and moved a few paces away. “You have terrible timing; did you know that? Please tell me this is something important.”

“It never is good timing with you,” he pointed out. “And it is important. Kind of important.”

“Important or kind of important?”

Something deep in the forest exploded, followed by a deep roar. Amara whipped around in time to catch a yellow glow emanating from somewhere in the trees just as it faded away.

“Well that didn’t sound good,” Lucas said.

“I’m gonna call you back,” Amara said, and hung up the phone before he could respond. “Klia, get inside. Umbreon, go with her. Metagross, Braviary, you’re on guard duty. Houndoom, you’re with me.”

The Pokemon leapt into action, gently herding Klia towards the door when she didn’t immediately do the same.

“We’ll talk when I get back, okay?” Amara called over her shoulder, already jogging in the direction Greninja had gone. The whole situation was getting weird. She’d lived here for half a year without so much as a scuffle, and now two fights in as many days? And one right next to the house? Something was going on. She just had no idea what.

She and Houndoom raced through the woods as fast as she dared. It was getting dark, and the forest floor was a rooty, gnarly mess. Unlike the day before, Houndoom didn’t race ahead. It wasn’t worried about Greninja, and it wasn’t about to abandon her when there was fighting going on.

Ahead of them, flashes of yellow lit up the forest. The faint smell of smoke hit her nose. She swore under her breath. A forest fire was the last thing she needed. If one got out of control, it would take a lot more than Greninja to stop it. The hair on the back of her arms stood up, confirming what her eyes were telling her. An electric type, one strong enough to give Greninja pause. It was a disadvantageous matchup for Greninja, but not one they hadn’t dealt with countless times before. Still. They should be doing it together. Amara gritted her teeth and ran faster, ignoring her aching legs.

An arc of electricity sailed past her head, narrowly missing her ear. She kept running. She was getting close. Within seconds, the problem came into view. Or rather, all three of them did. An Electivire stood proudly on top of a downed log, surveying the forest disdainfully. On the ground, one in front and one behind, stood two Electabuzz. Greninja was nowhere to be seen, but the injuries on the two Electabuzz told her it was nearby.

Amara slid her business face on and stepped forward. The Electabuzz spun towards her, the closer one beating its chest. The Electivire only glanced over its shoulder disdainfully.

“I can’t say I know what’s going on here,” Amara said, her voice stony, “but I can say life’s about to get pretty rough for you if you don’t get moving.”

The Electivire finally turned towards her, electricity coursing over its fur in what passed for a chuckle.

“No?” she said, pausing a beat. “Fine then. We’ll make you leave. Greninja, Water shuriken.”

The shurikens appeared out of nowhere, slamming into all three wild Pokemon at once. The Electivire teetered, once, twice… and then fell backwards off the log. The Electabuzz only stumbled, looking about in confusion.

“Night slash,” she said, tilting her head towards the closest Electabuzz. Greninja flickered into view for a split second as it slammed a blade of darkness into its target. The Electivire roared from the other side of the log as it struggled back to its feet, electricity crackling through its fur in earnest now.

“Get out of there!” she shouted, just as the wild Pokemon unleashed a torrent of electricity in every direction. It washed over the Electabuzz harmlessly, giving them time to get their bearings again. Twenty feet away, Greninja flickered back into view, its face screwed up into a grimace.

Amara hesitated as it got back to its feet. Three on one with a type disadvantage… It was a lot for any Pokemon to handle, even one of hers. Letting Houndoom enter the fray would tip the scales towards them in a major way. She sighed. She couldn’t do it. Greninja would be pissed. She just hoped it didn’t get hurt enough to need a Pokemon center.

One of the Electabuzz snarled and charged Greninja, its fist crackling with electricity. Her time to think was up.

“Feint Attack,” she called. Greninja feinted left, ducked under the punch, and slammed its attack into the Electabuzz’s throat.

The other Electabuzz ran forward, yowling with anger. The Electivire held itself oddly still, eyes closed and arms spread.

“Water shuriken, behind you!”

Greninja whipped around, blasting its shuriken without looking. The attack caught the Electabuzz head on, forcing it to a halt.

“Give ‘em a spin.”

Greninja leapt backwards as it spat water out of its mouth. A tornado of water formed, ripping forward and colliding with first one Electabuzz, then the other. The pair were caught up in the torrent, swirling helplessly in the vortex as it dragged them along.

“Electivire’s planning something big, get out of sight!”

Greninja went translucent and was gone in the blink of an eye. The Electivire snarled, and its entire body exploded into a raging mass of lightning. Then, with a roar, it unleashed it all at once in a bolt larger around than two of Amara. The bolt coursed towards the place Greninja had been, then suddenly turned on a ninety degree angle. It hit Greninja full-on, sending it flying backwards. It hit a tree trunk and slid down, still twitching.

Amara growled, itching to run to its side. Had the Electivire actually thought to use Lock-on?

The whirlpool dissipated, dropping the two Electabuzz to the ground. Unconscious, she was glad to see. If they could just chase the Electivire off… She looked at Greninja, forcing her hand not to reach for its Poke ball. Her Pokemons’ job was to fight. Hers was to believe in them.

Greninja’s eyes snapped open, and she could read the fury in them even from where she stood. She met its eyes and nodded, mirroring its anger with her own. It slammed its front leg into the ground and pushed itself upright.

“Let’s do this,” she said.

The Electivire snarled, spreading its arms. It almost seemed angry to see Greninja on its feet after the last attack.

“Whirlpool,” she said, tapping her thigh three times. Greninja caught the signal, then turned its attention fully to its opponent. Another watery tornado surged forward, but this time, Greninja dashed forward, following closely behind.

The Electivire snorted, dodging the massive attack almost lazily.

“Night slash.”

Greninja whipped out from behind the column of water and slammed the attack into the Electivire’s chin, knocking it back. It attacked again before the Electivire could recover, this time slamming its foot into the Electivire’s cheek.

“Hydro pump.”

The Electivire stumbled, shaking its head as if to clear it, but it was too slow. Greninja opened its mouth wide and let out a torrent of water from point blank range.

The Electivire was knocked flying. It landed in a heap at the base of a tree, and Amara knew it wouldn’t be getting back up.

“Whoa.”

Amara jumped at the voice behind her. She spun, only to see Klia and an apologetic looking Umbreon. Glaring at them both she said, “I thought I told you to wait inside.”

“And if I had, I would still think you were just some weirdo in the woods,” Klia replied.

Amara growled, waving her hand at them, and jogged to Greninja’s side. It was still standing, but it looked like it was fighting to stay that way. She steading it, assessing its injuries. The situation wasn’t as dire as she’d thought. Her own field medical training would probably suffice, as long as she made sure it rested.

“Good job, buddy,” she said softly, returning it to its Poke ball in a flash of red light. In the second before it disappeared, she saw relief relaxing its features. It was probably glad it wouldn’t have to make the walk back.

She turned back to the kid, fixing what she hoped was a stern expression on her face. “It’s dangerous to run out on your own like that.”

Klia rolled her eyes. “I know. That’s why I made sure one of your Pokemon came with me.”

“Its name is Umbreon.”

Klia shot a beaming smile at the Pokemon next to her, all traces of the uncertain, scared girl by the fire gone. “Umbreon. Where did you learn to fight like that, Amara? Are all of your Pokemon that strong? How did Greninja go all invisible like that?”

Amara sighed, and gave up the pretense of anger. At that age, Amara would’ve done the same thing. “I learned the old-fashioned way. I travelled a lot. Got myself it plenty of trouble, so eventually I learned how to get myself out of trouble, too. And I don’t know. I think it has something to do with light refraction, but it actually figured it out on its own for the most part.” 

She started walking back towards the cabin. Klia fell in next to her without skipping a beat, the Pokemon behind her. “So you did the whole Pokemon journey thing? Left home at ten with nothing but some pocket change and a Pokemon to protect you?”

Amara frowned at her. “It’s not that unusual, you know. Plenty of people still do it.”

Klia snorted. “Sure, but most of them give up before they reach the third gym. How does that count?”

“There’s only one champion, you know,” Amara said. “What do you think happens to everyone else? What if you were on a Pokemon journey and realized you didn’t want that to be you?”

Klia’s eyebrows scrunched together. “What do you mean?”

“Well, maybe the point isn’t so much to get to the end and win a lot of fights, as it is getting out to see the world. Maybe find your place in it.” Amara shrugged. “I knew plenty of people who dropped out. Except what they actually did was settle down. Part way along, they figured out where they wanted to be in the world. Some people love to battle. Others don’t.” She shrugged again. “World needs more than one kind of people.”

Klia was quiet for a moment, digesting what she’d said. “I still think its dumb.”

Amara chuckled. “Then maybe you’re the kind who’ll see it through.”

“How far did you make it?” Klia looked up at her, eyes gleaming with excitement. “With Pokemon like that, you had to have beaten all the gyms, right?”

Amara’s good humor vanished like a candle in the wind. “Sure. But that was a long time ago.”

Klia rolled her eyes. “You aren’t _that_ old.”

Amara forced a teasing grin. “Oh, so you just think I’m regular old?”

Klia shouted her protest, and Amara managed to distract her away from the topic entirely. By the time they were back at the house, Klia was telling her about some famous trainer from forever ago (her words) and how their Sceptile had definitely been the coolest Pokemon that ever lived.

Amara set her to cleaning the dishes, which the kid managed to while still telling her story at full speed. Something had changed, and Amara wasn’t sure how or why, but at least it seemed to be for the better. She wouldn’t say the kid exactly trusted her yet, but she wasn’t scared any more. Which made no sense to Amara at all, considering the kid had just watched her beat the crap out of the local wildlife. But it didn’t really matter. The kid was happy, so it was fine. Even if Amara was more confused than she’d ever been in her life.

Once she was sure the kid would actually do the dishes without direct supervision—and without breaking them—Amara retreated inside to see to Greninja’s wounds.


	3. let me remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara gets in another fight.

A sharp knock on the door startled Amara awake. She bolted upright, knocking Houndoom off her. It whined pitifully. She whispered an apology as she got her bearings. She was in the main room of the house, where she’d been sleeping with one of her old shirts balled up for a pillow. She’d really have to see about making that other furniture.

Struggling through her drowsiness to her feet, she shuffled to the door and yanked it open. Lucas grinned back at her, completely ignoring her glare. He looked unfairly awake, his brown eyes sparkling with amusement from under wisps of blonde hair. 

“Good morning,” he said, shouldering his way through the door. Houndoom blinked at him sleepily and licked his hand before curling back up.

Amara groaned. Sometimes she thought his cheerfulness fed directly off her bad moods. “What are you doing here? And why so early?”

Lucas brandished a white paper bag and two coffee cups. “You don’t get to kill me. I brought donuts. And you said you’d call back. I took the liberty of not believing you.”

Amara accepted the coffee and waved her hand impatiently until Lucas produced a donut and handed it to her. “I assume this is about whatever was so important yesterday?”

“Kind of important,” he corrected.

Amara opened her mouth to respond, then hesitated. “Let’s go sit on the porch.”

Lucas shrugged, but opened the door for her. Houndoom grumbled its protests, but followed her out before immediately flopping back down. She waited until Lucas had closed the door and sat on the steps next to her.

“If it was only kind of important, you wouldn’t be here. I don’t even want to know how busy you are these days.”

Lucas hesitated, fiddling with his coffee cup. “We’ve been friends for a long time, Amara. I… don’t think I need to tell you how worried about you I’ve been. Not just me, either. But last night, you sounded the most like yourself that I’ve heard you in, I don’t even know how long. You sounded like the champion again.”

Amara’s hands tightened around her cup, bending the cardboard. “You know I gave that up.”

“And you know that’s not how that works,” he said softly. “And even if you could, nobody’s beaten the Elite 4 since.”

“You could,” she said, wishing her voice came out stronger. “You could do it.”

He shook his head. “I couldn’t. I figured that out for myself, back when we did the gym challenge together, and it’s something I’m grateful for every day. I’m lucky you were there to beat me, to stop me from becoming champion. It wasn’t right for me, even if I didn’t figure it out right away.”

Amara looked away. It used to be that she could get angry at him, yell and needle and poke until even his great well of patience ran out. “What if it’s not right for me, either?”

He bumped her shoulder with his. “It is. I don’t know how to explain it. But it is.”

She let out a short breath through her teeth. “How exactly is that supposed to help?”

He grinned at her, and it was so genuine she almost smiled back. “Hell if I know. But at least I brought donuts.”

She shook her head, but took a bite of the donut anyway. “So talk. What’s your kind of important news?”

He settled back against the steps. “A couple things. A Haxorous that nested right next to a main route. Team Rockets trying to set up camp in that abandoned town again. And there’s a few promising challengers this year. You might actually have to fight someone.” He paused, sliding a glance her way. “You’ll come to the tournament, won’t you?”

She grumbled something noncommittal under her breath. She’d been trying to forget about it entirely. Although, it did seem like something Klia would appreciate. She pushed the thought away. She’d known Klia for a day and a half, most of which the kid had slept through. But it wouldn’t be weird if she just gave her tickets. That much she could do.

Lucas sighed, and she knew he was only giving up on the issue for now. “I can send you the location for the Haxorus. Or I just show you the way. Between that, and the Team Rocket issue, we could make a day of it.”

She stopped herself from pointing out that if he could come with her, he could take care of it himself. To her surprise, she found herself wanting to say yes. He had been right—she didn’t just sound better, she _felt_ better than she had in a long time. It was like saving Klia had given her some momentum again. How long it would last, she wasn’t sure, but right now, an adventure didn’t sound so bad. But…

“Here’s the thing,” she said, hating how quickly his eyes flooded with disappointment. Hated how often she made him look like that. Look at _her_ like that. “I kind of… can’t at the moment. There’s something I need to take care of here.”

He frowned, confusion pushing some of the disappointment aside. “Like what?”

She opened her mouth, and closed it again. “Well, uh…”

“Who’s this?”

They both turned towards the voice. Klia stood in the doorway, rubbing her eyes against the thin morning light.

Lucas started at her for a second then whipped his head back towards Amara.

“So you see,” Amara said weakly, “I actually kind of can’t.”

Klia frowned between them. “Can’t what?”

Amara groaned, pressing her forehead into her coffee cup. “Klia, this is Lucas. Lucas brought donuts.”

The kid’s expression cleared. “Oh, okay.”

She plopped herself down next to Amara, happily accepting the paper bag.

Lucas was still staring at her, his expression somewhat strangled. “Amara, can I speak with you for a moment?”

She sighed and nodded, standing. They’d barely made it out of earshot when Lucas exploded, “A kid, Amara? What were you thinking? How could you bring a kid out here?”

She glared at him. “I didn’t bring her out here. I found her here. The day before yesterday. And she’s not staying.”

“She should already be gone and you know it. The wild Pokemon here are stronger than almost any other place in the region. She’s going to get herself killed.”

“She already almost did,” Amara snapped. “Which is why she needed time to recover.”

“Which,” he shot back, “she could have done in a hospital. Not some grimy, half-finished cabin in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s not grimy,” she mumbled.

He stared at her, blue eyes bright with anger. “You were afraid you would be seen, weren’t you? That’s why you didn’t take her to a doctor.”

Amara looked away.

Lucas closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. “Look, your self-destructive tendencies are one thing. But if you’re just going to sit back and let other people get hurt—”

“Don’t you dare say that,” Amara snarled. “I didn’t take her to a doctor, you’re right, and it’s because I was afraid. For myself, okay? Are you happy? But don’t you dare say that I just sat there and watched her get hurt. She didn’t get hit by anything more than a strong dose of Sleep powder. She’s been under guard by at least one of my Pokemon at all times since she got here. So you can go fuck yourself, because if that’s the kind of person you think I am—” She stopped abruptly, turning away.

Silence stretched harshly between them. Amara was the one to break it. Turning back to face him, she whispered, “I think you should go.”

He flinched, and she felt it in her bones.

“Amara, I—”

She shook her head and the words died on his lips. The movement dislodged a tear from her eye, and she felt it streak down her cheek. “Just go, okay? I’ll—” She took in a deep breath. “I’ll call you about those other things.”

She waited long enough for him to give her a tight nod, and then spent the entire walk back to the house convincing herself not to run.

Klia was still on the porch exactly where she’d left her, nibbling on a donut. The early morning sunlight was streaming down onto her face, illuminating each one of her frizzy curls. Her eyes were unfocused, head tilted slightly to the side, as if caught up in some daydream. Amara’s movement caught her gaze, and her face split into a big, toothy smile.

“Hey, where’s your friend go?” Klia asked, stretching out the word friend until it was longer than the rest of the sentence.

Amara chose the ignore-and-plow-through method. “Home. He has a lot of work to do.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

Amara glanced over, raising an eyebrow as she sipped her coffee. “Trying to figure out if you’ll need to bury me soon? Well, you’re out of luck. I’m a very ancient nineteen, but I plan to beat death off with a stick.”

Klia grinned victoriously. “Nineteen is old enough to get married, right?”

Amara choked, spitting her coffee everywhere.

Klia laughed, dancing out of reach. “I thought sooooo. Amara and Lucas, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-“

Amara threw the last of her coffee aside and chased after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update is so late! I don't know if anyone's keeping up with this, but the story is actually finished so I'll be posting a few chapters now, and the rest hopefully soon.


	4. careful what you wish for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara faces some instant karma.

The next morning came and went without incident, but also without any mention of leaving. The kid had been about to tell her something, right before the incident with the Electivire, but Amara had no idea how to bring it up again and Klia didn’t seem inclined to do it herself. Amara had the distinct feeling, though, that if she tried to pack the kid up right now and take her somewhere, she’d be in for a fight. Klia was relaxed now, laughing and playing with the Pokemon, but Amara recognized the stubborn glint in her eye. Kids that young didn’t get that kind of look from an easy life.

They also didn’t end up in a forest like this. Lucas hadn’t been kidding when he’d said the wild Pokemon were unusually strong here. She’d picked this forest for that exact reason. She’d told herself it was so she could train while she was here, but really she’d just figured it would be an extra barrier to people coming to find her. She was retired, kind of, and she meant to stay that way.

All she wanted was to lay in the sun and never move for any reason ever again.

“I’m bored.”

Amara opened her eyes and squinted at the figure blocking her sun. “Huh?”

Klia put her hands on her hips. “I _said_ , I’m bored.”

“Then do something interesting,” Amara mumbled, tossing an arm over her eyes. She was too tired to deal with this. She’d already fed the kid and helped her collect enough supplies to set them up for at least a few days. That was more productive than she normally was in a week.

“Fine, maybe I will,” Klia snapped back at her, her feet clunking against the wood porch as she stalked away. Amara relaxed, stretching her shoulders luxuriously. Who ever said ignoring people didn’t work? She was already ignoring everybody she’d ever met in her life and a call from Lucas, so one more thing couldn’t hurt.

It wasn’t like she didn’t feel bad about it. Ignoring Lucas was probably the worst of all—back when they were still kids and life was a lot simpler, they’d talked every day. There hadn’t been much of a choice; they’d travelled the continent together. But she’d loved it. Even when they didn’t talk, even if it was storming, or she’d just lost a battle or wild Pokemon had stolen their food—nothing ever seemed quite so bad, because between the two of them, they could always figure it out.

Then, she’d become champion and everything changed. She hadn’t minded the responsibilities, but it had never occurred to her that Lucas wouldn’t share them. That life would pull him in another direction entirely. It’d been something she’d encouraged, even. He’d disappeared from her life without either of them quite realizing what’d happened. At first, he’d call all the time. Sometimes she would too.

The first time she hadn’t been able to answer, she’d thought nothing of it. Just wasn’t in the mood, she told herself. Three missed calls later, and a couple placating texts, he stopped calling so much. It would be a few months before she gave up the title of champion—also over text, because she was a coward—and left her life behind to live in the woods. But, looking back, the guilt that sat like an iron ball in her stomach had started building the first time she saw Lucas’ name on the display and flipped her phone face down.

A wet nose nudged her neck. Amara groaned, scrunching her shoulders up. The nose attacked her cheek instead, nudging insistently.

She cracked an eye open. “What?”

Houndoom whined, and pushed her shoulder. Grudgingly she sat up, rubbing an eye. “Is something wrong? And by that I mean, something better be.”

Houndoom whined again, dashing off the porch. Halfway to the trees, it stopped short and looked back. Prancing in place, it gave her a plaintive cry.

“Crap,” Amara muttered. “Okay.”

She stood, and looked around. Metagross was there, its legs tucked up like it meant to go somewhere fast. Greninja had its usual spot against the house and was watching her with cool eyes. Otherwise the yard was abandoned.

She turned slowly back to Houndoom. “Where’s Klia?”

Houndoom yelped with frustration and darted another few steps forward. Amara swore and took off after it. Houndoom bolted, moving far too fast for her to keep up with.

Metagross caught up with her, buzzing urgently.

“Thanks,” Amara said, and hopped onto its back. She landed in a crouch, one hand on its leg for balance, and Metagross shot forward. Spitting hair out of her mouth, Amara held on tightly as Metagross weaved its way through the trees. At first, she tried to look ahead, but they were moving so quickly that she was finally forced to shut her eyes against the wind. Made her appreciate cars and windshields, really.

She was gonna kill that kid. Klia had Umbreon with her, and probably Braviary too, and normally that would pretty well kill any worry Amara might have, but this forest was dangerous in normal times. Right now, it was just odd. The wild Pokemon were acting too aggressive. She wasn’t sure exactly what the situation had been with the Electivire the day before, but she did know Greninja wasn’t one to start fights needlessly.

Even beyond that, she couldn’t remember the last time a wild Pokemon had come so close to the house. When she’d first arrived, a few of the forest residents had decided to object to her presence. She’d convinced them otherwise. There hadn’t been any problems since then, but she also suspected that some of her Pokemon—probably Greninja and maybe Braviary—were doing regular patrols to keep it that way.

Something was definitely up. She should be already investigating—hell, if this were the old days, she’d probably know the answer by now. She could blame it on having Klia to look after, but… she wasn’t really doing that either, was she? An image of Lucas’ disappointed face snapped through her mind like a whip.

Metagross jolted to a halt, nearly throwing her into a tree. It whirred an apology as she picked herself up off its back. Sliding to the ground, she looked around. They were somewhere she’d never been before. The trees ended abruptly in front of her, giving way to a rocky cliff dotted with cracks, but there was no break in the canopy, no sudden sunlight. Squinting up, she saw tiny green leaves, swaying in the wind. There were more trees at the top. She wondered if this spot would be visible from the air.

Metagross buzzed anxiously, nudging her forward. She went. “What are we doing here?” she asked as she stopped at the cliff, reaching out a hand to feel the cool stone.

A bark sounded somewhere nearby, oddly distorted.

Amara dropped her hand. “Houndoom?”

Metagross whirred its assent, hovering over to the largest crack. It released its legs and stood, watching her impatiently.

Amara paled. “She went in there? I’m gonna kill that kid.”

She stopped in the entrance to the crack, and her worst suspicions were confirmed. Although it had probably started out as just a crack in the rockface, something—an Onix, maybe—had taken the liberty of tunneling further. And if it was an Onix, she wouldn’t be surprised to find a whole cave system hidden under the forest. Amara hated caves. Only bad things happened in them.

“Let’s go,” she said grimly. At one point, Metagross had known the move Flash, which would’ve lit up the surrounding area with its glowing body as brightly as if it were daytime. But Amara had avoided caves like the plague and it had forgotten—something she had found out while already in a cave. Instead she pulled out her phone and turned the flashlight on. It was better than nothing.

The tunnel was roomy, definitely built by something large, but within fifty feet, she was relying solely on the light from her phone.

“Houndoom?” she hissed, unable to decide between whispering and shouting. “Klia?”

Her voice echoed her words around her, but no response came. The only sound was her own footsteps and Metagross’, quietly clicking behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees something. She frowned, turning her flashlight towards the wall.

“Shit,” she whispered. Metagross hummed its agreement. Huge claw marks scarred the wall level with her eye. Each scratch had three claw marks, widely spaced and evenly deep. The wall was covered with them, marks overlapping marks, until the oldest ones were nearly impossible to see. An Aggron, marking its territory. And from the looks of it, it had been living here for years. Meaning this was probably a den. “Fuck,” she said, with feeling.


	5. field day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara looks for Klia.
> 
> (hope this isn't too much of a cliffhanger)

Amara stared at the great gouges in the wall, Metagross whirring impatiently beside her. Her heart was pounding in her ears. These marks could only have been left by an Aggron, and, territorial as they were by nature, the few she had run into while living here had been particularly aggressive. She struggled to think for a moment, trying to remember when Aggron breeding season was. Fall, she thought… But it didn’t matter, actually, because the eggs could sometimes take years to hatch. She could only hope that it was only eggs, and no baby Arons. Eggs would trap the mother in one defensive position. Babies wandered. And as protective as wild Pokemon could be of their eggs, eggs were nothing compared to hatched babies.

She looked at Metagross. “We need to hurry.”

Metagross answered by hurrying. Amara jogged next to it, the light from her phone bobbing with each step. She was starting to remember why she’d been in such good shape when she was travelling. Giving up on stealth, she whistled sharply. Hopefully, any Aggron would retreat to protect their nests if they heard her. It was thin logic, but she didn’t care. Finding Klia was more important.

Houndoom’s bark echoed through the tunnel, closer than before. Amara picked up speed, Metagross easily matching her. Abruptly, the tunnel walls disappeared. She swung her light back and forth, realizing she was in a cavern. Some twenty feet ahead of her, Houndoom’s happy bark came, echoing in booms around them. How big was this cavern?

“Hey, buddy,” she called back. “Is Klia here?”

Houndoom barked again, sharper and more urgent.

“I can’t see in the dark like you can,” she reminded it. “Show me. Fire fang.”

Fire bloomed in the dark, outlining Houndoom’s jaws. It hung there, throwing enough light for her to dimly see most of the cavern. It was large, at least forty feet across, and long enough that the far end was still shrouded in dark. Huge piles of rocks dotted the floor, mostly against the walls. Tucked in with the rocks, she could see the pale surface of eggs. Despite that, she could see no evidence of a single Aggron. A shiver ran down her spine.

Houndoom barked impatiently, reclaiming her attention. There was something on the ground at its feet, but the fire was so sharply bright in the complete darkness that she couldn’t tell what it was. She approached, scanning the nests as she went. Sensing her anxiety, Metagross kept itself close to her heels.

“Oh,” she said, suddenly realizing what she was looking at. “Oh, no.”

Abandoning caution, she rushed over, picking up Umbreon’s limp form. It was battered and bruised, almost as bad as she’d ever seen it. And that had been before she had become champion. Its eyelid flickered as she moved it, but it only managed a soft whimper. Cradling it softly, she brushed her fingers over its fur.

“It’s okay now, I’ve got you,” Amara whispered. “Return.”

She held out its Poke ball, and Umbreon disappeared in a flash of red light. She took a deep breath, steadying herself, then scratched Houndoom’s chin, carefully avoiding the sparks dripping from its jaws. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys. Can you find Klia’s scent?”

It whined, sniffing around itself for what clearly wasn’t the first time.

“Alright, that’s fine. Metagross? I know we haven’t practiced this in a while, but will you give it a shot? Metal sound, into the ground.”

Metagross nodded in its odd way, moving its whole body. She moved back a few steps, Houndoom following.

Metagross reared up on its back two legs, and slammed its front ones into the ground. The whole cave seemed to shudder underneath them, rocking with the waves Metagross was sending through it. They’d figured out this trick a few years ago, when they’d spent a lot of time rescuing people and Pokemon from burning buildings with no time to search the whole thing. It’d also come in handy once or twice when they’d been forced to fight blind.

Metagross held perfectly still, its eyes closed as it read the waves bouncing back to it. She waited impatiently, resisting the urge to fidget. After a long moment, Metagross’ eyes snapped open.

“Any luck?” she asked, trying not to think about what would happen if the answer was no.

Metagross tucked up its legs and gave a loud _whirr._

Amara nodded grimly, fisting her hands so they wouldn’t shake with relief. “Let’s go.”

Metagross took the lead. It moved quickly, forcing her to run, but she didn’t complain. It had been a long time since Umbreon lost a fight, even without Amara’s help. Klia must have run off in the chaos, but something was still off. The abandoned nests made something in her stomach turn cold. She could kick herself. Why hadn’t she listened to Lucas when she had the chance? She hadn’t thought another day would make too much of a difference, and it was true that she liked having the kid around. Maybe Lucas had been right after all when he accused her of sitting back while other people got hurt.

The tunnel forked ahead, the first one they’d seen yet. Amara hesitated for a second, but Metagross chose the tunnel on the left without a second thought. Houndoom growled, snapping its still flaming jaws behind her legs until she raced to catch up. The tunnel forked again after barely twenty feet, and again and again. Metagross picked its direction like the other tunnels weren’t there, and, not for the first time, Amara was grateful for her Pokemon.

Houndoom’s flames fluttered out, throwing them back into partial darkness. It whined an apology, but she reassured it. Her phone was enough light for now. She should have realized how hard it would be for Houndoom to maintain the move for so long, especially while running. Houndoom never complained, but she knew the fire made it hard for it to breathe. Abruptly, the tunnel shifted up under her feet, nearly causing her to trip. She caught herself after a step or two, racing back behind Metagross. Already she could feel the burn building slowly in her thighs. She really, really hoped it didn’t get too much steeper.

Metagross threw down its legs and its metal claws screeched against the stone as it slammed to a halt. Amara stopped herself just before she knocked into it, and shone her light ahead. She saw only rock. Looking up, she groaned. The tunnel continued, straight upwards.

“Are you sure this is the right way? There’s no way Klia could have gotten up this.”

Metagross whirred its frustration. She was usually pretty good at understanding her team, but there were some things that just couldn’t be explained by noises and gestures. Biting back her own frustration, she bridged that gap in the only way she knew how—trust.

“Alright. Can you get us up there?”

It whirred again, raising itself a few feet off the ground until she saw the problem. The tunnel narrowed above them. If Metagross could walk, it could fit through, but with its legs up to levitate, it was simply too wide.

She looked up into the dark abyss above them. “Send me, then. Psychic.”

Houndoom yelped in surprise, darting forward to catch her sleeve between its teeth. She knelt, scratching its chin. “I’ll be fine.”

It growled at her, but allowed her to pry her sleeve free. Metagross buzzed, clearly unhappy, but did as it was asked. Amara felt the ground fall away from her feet as the darkness rushed towards her. She closed her eyes, pulling her phone against her stomach to block the light. She was moving fast, at least as fast as their mad dash through the forest had been. More than once, she changed directions abruptly, following whatever direction the Pokemon who had dug this tunnel had gone. After a moment, she noticed that the darkness was getting less harsh, that a little light was filtering through her eyelids. Her ascent slowed and her eyes flew open. Metagross was nearing the limit of its range. Above her, in the dim light, she could see a ledge. The tunnel continued above, twisting back in the other direction, but her gut told her this was the place. This was where she would find Klia. She’d slowed to a crawl now, inching closer to the ledge. It was just out of arms reach, but the walls surrounding it were smooth, with nothing to grab onto.

She reached, straining, as her hand hit cool rock, as her fingertips found open air… Her hand had just curled around the edge when Metagross’ power gave out. She clamped her hand down, searching frantically with the other. After a long, terrifying moment, she caught it, but her relief was short-lived. She was still dangling from the ledge by her fingertips. Against her better judgement, she glanced down. Her regret was immediate. The space below her was a bottomless void, the faint light barely penetrating past her feet. She gasped, instinctively trying to pull her arms into her chest, driving her elbows into the rock and tiring her already shaking muscles.

Whether it was from fear or weakness, she couldn’t tell, but she had a feeling that if she hung here much longer, it wouldn’t matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the format? I'm pretty new to this site and can't figure out how to fix it (please help) but i'll try again in a day or two. hope you enjoy it anyway


	6. flying blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara pulls herself up by the bootstraps.

Amara took a deep breath and focused her gaze on the edge of the cliff above her. Her fingers were already shaking with effort. She had to do something, and fast.

She swung her body to one side, then back again, building up momentum. Her fingers screamed, one of her hands slipping a quarter inch, but she only gritted her teeth and swung again. At the highest point of her swing, she let go with her hand and swung her elbow and foot up. Her elbow made it, but her foot caught on something, a foot short. She swore loudly, considering her options. Without momentum, there was no way she could get her foot up that last twelve inches. Grudgingly, she let it fall so that she was hanging vertically this time.

Maybe a different tactic. She braced herself on her elbow and pulled her other arm over the ledge. Her feet scraped uselessly at the cliff in front of them, but found no purchase. Forcing the panic building in her throat back down into her chest, she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the cool rock, wasting precious seconds as she got herself under control.

She threw her weight forward onto one elbow, trying to maneuver her other hand palm down to push herself up. She’d just managed it when her elbow slipped, sending her slowly sliding backwards. She scrabbled frantically with her feet for purchase, but no new hold magically appeared. She slid back another inch, her arm now flush with the edge.

Hands latched onto her arms, stopping her slow fall. She struggled again, and with the help, she managed to get her torso over the edge, then rolled sideways for the rest of her. She landed on her back, panting for breath. She was shaking all over, half from the adrenaline and half from her exhausted muscles.

A hand nudged Amara’s shoulder. “Amara?” Klia’s voice whispered. “Are you okay?”

Amara’s head snapped around. “Klia?”

Klia frowned down at her in the dim light, looking concerned but unhurt. Amara moved to sit up, but fell back with a groan. Her muscles had had enough. “You don’t look okay,” Klia commented.

“I just need a minute,” Amara muttered. “What are you doing in here?”

Klia squirmed, looking away. “Well, uh, in my defense, you said to do something interesting. So I did.”

Amara winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. So, what, you went exploring?”

Klia nodded. “I thought I’d stay close so you wouldn’t get mad, and I took Umbreon and Braviary with me too, but then I heard something.”

“Something like what?”

“Like—” Klia gestured with her hands, as if to make up for what words couldn’t express. “Like a keening. Except not. It was something sad, and maybe a little angry, but mostly hurt. I thought… I thought maybe I could help. But I thought Umbreon might try and stop me, so I took off.”

Amara felt a vein pulsing in her neck. Was this how all the adults she’d frustrated over the years had felt? “What’d you find?”

Klia shook her head. “I don’t know, it was something I’d never seen before. But it was big and gray and white, with these huge horns. It was the one making that sound, just outside the cave. It looked really hurt, so I tried to offer it some berries…”

The puzzle pieces started to align in Amara’s head. “And it attacked, so you ran in the cave right?”

Klia nodded.

“I think that was an Aggron. Tell me what happened when you got inside. You were attacked again right?”

Klia nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “Umbreon tried to protect me. It did its best, and I just left it there.”

Amara gripped Klia’s hand. “Hey, it’s okay. I have Umbreon resting in its Poke ball right now. You did the right thing, running while you could. I need to know what attacked you. Another Aggron?”

A tear streaked down Klia’s cheek, but she squeezed Amara’s hand back and shook her head. “It was something else I’d never seen before. It was white and green with a little bit of red, and taller than me.”

Amara frowned. That left too many options. It could be a Serperior, or a Tsareena, or a Gardevoir, or a dozen other things. “Did you recognize any of the moves it used?”

Klia shook her head. “I kind of just started running.”

Amara tried to sit up again, and was relieved when her muscles held. Turning to face the kid, she asked, “Where’s Braviary, anyway?”

“Still outside. It didn’t seem to want to go in the cave.”

Amara nodded. With few exceptions, getting flying types in caves was like pulling teeth. “Alright, here’s our plan. We need to get out of here as fast as possible, before whatever attacked you comes back. Do you remember how you got up here?”

Klia wrinkled her nose. “Not the way you did, that’s for sure. I think it might have been from over there?” She pointed vaguely away from where they were. “But I took a lot of turns.”

Amara nodded, thinking. They could try jumping back down the way she’d come, and hope Metagross would catch them. If she’d been by herself and shouted down first, she might’ve tried it. But not with a kid in tow. She looked up instead, trying to find the source of the light. The ceiling was high above them, and dotted with small cracks. Roots cut through them, telling her they were underneath yet more forest floor. Even if she could get Braviary to find them without alerting whatever Pokemon was defending these caves, the cracks were too small for any of them to get through.

She slid a hand to her belt, touching the sixth Poke ball there, more for reassurance than anything else. That was the nuclear option, and she was loathe to take it. Calling Lucas was another nuclear option, one to be avoided at almost any cost. She wasn’t ready to face him and admit to her mistakes. She glanced at the kid beside her and sighed. Her ego wasn’t really the point here. She checked her phone, but, unsurprisingly, had no signal.

“I think we’re going to have to wander,” Amara admitted. “We can try to meet up with Metagross and Houndoom, or find an opening big enough for Braviary.”

Klia looked thoroughly unconvinced, but nodded. Amara marched in the direction Klia had pointed, the kid following less energetically at her heels. In retrospect, maybe she should have been more optimistic. Klia was just a kid after all. But wasn’t it better not to lie to her? Amara sighed, rubbing her forehead. She just wasn’t any good with kids. Or people, really, in general. Lucas had always been the encouraging one, the balance to her realism. Or, as he put it, crotchety pessimism.

“It’s, uh, gonna be fine,” she tried. “We’ll be out of here in no time.”

“What if that Pokemon finds us before we find your Pokemon? Or what if we find your Pokemon first, but they lose, like Umbreon did?”

She was going to leave the encouraging to Lucas from now on. “Well, uh… That’s not going to happen. So. Don’t worry about it.”

Klia glared at her. “I’m not stupid, you know.”

Amara sighed. “Right. Well, believe it or not, Umbreon hasn’t lost a battle in a long time. It was my fault, for not being there to help. So if we can find my Pokemon, we’ll be okay. Because together, we don’t lose.”

Klia snorted. “Everybody loses sometimes. Even if they’re kind of strong sometimes.” Klia shot her a look that told her exactly what the kid thought of Amara’s strength.

Amara threw up her hands. “Fine. We’re never going to find my Pokemon. We’re never going to see daylight again, and that mystery Pokemon is right around the corner. Happy?”

Klia grumbled something under her breath. Yeah, Amara was never trying this again. They walked in silence, the sounds of their footsteps echoing hollowly around them.

“Hey, Amara.”

She looked over in surprise. “What’s up?”

“Who was that guy who came to visit the other day?”

Despite herself, a small smile threatened at the edge of her lips. “Who, Lucas? He’s an old friend. Back when I first left home, we travelled together.”

“Was it just the two of you?”

“Only every now and then,” she said as she snuck a glance at the kid. Where were these questions coming from? “Mostly we travelled with another person or two, although they weren’t always the same.”

“What—” Klia stopped for so long that Amara looked over again. “What made you decide to leave home?”

Amara blinked. “I guess I don’t really know. I can’t remember deciding, I just always knew I wanted to travel and meet as many Pokemon as I could, and battle as many trainers as I could. Couldn’t really do that from home.”

She also hadn’t really had a home she could stay in, but she didn’t need to say that.

Klia said nothing, just tucked her chin and chewed on her lip. After a moment, Amara decided to risk a question of her own. “Why did you leave home?”

Klia shrugged, looking away. “I don’t know.”

Amara suppressed a sigh. One of the best parts of travelling in a group was that there had almost always been someone else to do this. “If you want, Lucas’ll probably be coming back soon. You can talk to him, if you want. He’s helped a lot of new trainers get started. He’s good at that kind of thing.”

Klia perked up a little. “Do you think he’d give me a Pokemon?”

Amara nudged her. “Not a chance. He’s a strict believer in trainers being at least ten.”

“That’s not fair,” she protested.

“Them’s the breaks, kiddo. And before you ask, I—”

A stone skittered somewhere ahead of them. Amara stopped, yanking the kid behind her.

“Did you hear something?” Klia whispered, loudly enough that Amara winced. Amara held up a finger, hoping the kid would actually wait as she scanned the darkness in front of them. In walking across the cave, they’d moved enough away from the cracks in the ceiling to take the cavern from dim back to dark.

“Amara,” Klia whispered, dragging out all three syllables.

Amara ignored her, letting her hand slip to her belt. She’d use her sixth Pokemon if she had to. For Klia, she would.

Something scraped, long and slow against hard stone. Klia flinched, and she knew the kid had heard this time. Holding a finger to her lips, she pushed the kid sideways, and made sure she was moving before she followed. Amara’s footsteps were near silent, courtesy of years of practice and years of life or death situations. Klia’s feet clunked with every step, the sound magnified by the echoes of the cave.

The scraping sound came again, and something about it made Amara pause. Gesturing to Klia to stay where she was, she crept forward, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She flipped the flashlight on. Behind her Klia hissed for her to come back, but she waved behind her in what she hoped was a reassuring fashion.

The light caught on something reflective, glinting back. Amara slid into a crouch, sliding another step forward. The light moved with her, revealing a silver head, and a red eye glaring weakly back at her. She let out a breath. An Aggron, laying flat out on the ground.


	7. berry for your thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara makes a new friend.

“Easy now,” Amara said softly. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

The Aggron gave a weak snarl, barely lifting its chin off the ground. She swung the light back and forth. Its body was battered with scrapes and scars, some of them cutting deep into its armored metal plates. Footsteps clunked up to her side.

“Klia—” she growled.

“Is it going to be okay?”

Amara considered telling her to back up, but decided the kid probably wouldn’t listen. “Do you still have those berries with you? Sitrus would be best.”

“Umm…” Klia dug through her pockets. “They’re a little squished, but I have some.”

Klia handed her a Sitrus and two Oren berries. “Thanks. Stay here.” She glared at Klia. “I mean it.”

The kid nodded. Amara wasn’t sure she believed her, but it would have to do.

She sidled closer to the injured Pokemon, careful to keep her movements slow and predictable. “Easy now,” she said, palming one of the berries. “This’ll help you feel better, alright?”

She extended her hand slowly, holding the berry by her fingertips. The Aggron struggled to lift its chin, a low rumble emanating from its body.

“Easy,” she said softly, holding perfectly still, the berry poised a few inches from its jaws. The Pokemon watched her, and she could see the fight draining from its eyes. It was exhausted beyond comprehension. After a long moment, its eyelid dropped, half obscuring its dull gaze. Amara let out a breath. She wasn’t about to pry its mouth open, so instead she held the berry above its jaw and squeezed, letting the juice seep in between its teeth. The Aggron shifted, making a plaintive noise. Its eye opened, understanding dawning. “Can you open you mouth for me? These’ll work better if you eat the whole thing.”

The Aggron tilted it head, its whole body creaking with the effort. Its jaw spread, exposing it pink tongue by just an inch.

“Thank you,” she said, carefully dropping the already mashed berry into the opening. “Try and at least suck up the juices. When you’re ready, I can give you another one.”

The Aggron made a low noise she decided to take as agreement. Amara sidled backwards, not quite daring to take her eyes off the injured Pokemon. Surreptitiously, she checked her phone again. Still no signal.

“That’s a good sign, right?” Klia asked in a whisper. “That it took the berry?”

Amara nodded. “Better than nothing. I don’t think its strong enough to swallow yet. We need to give the juices some time to do their thing. Looks like our plan’s changing again. I don’t want to leave it alone like this.”

Klia shivered. “Okay.”

Amara flipped the flashlight off.

Stiffening, Klia hissed, “Why’d you do that?”

Amara winced. “Shh. We can’t draw any attention to ourselves. A flashlight would be a pretty obvious giveaway.”

“Oh.” Klia sounded a little lost. “We could aim it through my shirt or something? That wouldn’t be so bad, right?”

“Sorry,” Amara said, shaking her head. “We can’t risk it.”

Amara saw Klia’s shadowy form hunch a little, as if to ward off the dark. She sighed, and slung an arm over the kid.

“Do you think the Pokemon that attacked me and Umbreon did this?” Klia asked. Amara knew she should tell her talking wasn’t safe either, but the Klia’s voice was so pitiful that Amara relented.

“I think it’s chasing the Aggron out of their nest. It looks like this one didn’t want to go.”

It was the only explanation. It might also account for the strangeness in the forest—it was impossible to displace a group of Pokemon as powerful as the Aggron without effects. Space was limited—if she had to guess, she’d say that the Aggron had started a ripple effect, causing territory disputes that were especially dangerous in a place like this, where any given Pokemon could cause destruction on a really inconvenient scale.

Which. She should have already known about. It had taken—literally—screams and explosions on her doorstep for her to notice. If she’d caught the problem sooner after it had happened, it might have been possible to control the disaster. Now, the best she could hope for was to drive off the invader and hope the wild Pokemon settled their problems without too much fuss or destruction.

“Why would it do that?”

Amara shrugged. “Plenty of reasons. It could’ve wanted the caves as a status symbol. Maybe it had a problem with one of the Aggron in particular. Or maybe it just liked the challenge. There’s no way to know. Whatever the case, I’ll probably have to come back and chase it off.”

“So the Aggron can have their home back?”

“Well, sort of. Territory changes hands all the time with wild Pokemon, and it’s not something we should really interfere with. But the Aggrons’ eggs are hidden in the caves, and those need to be back with their parents as soon as possible.”

Klia nodded, pulling her elbows into her sides.

“You cold?” Amara said with a frown. It wasn’t that chilly, even with how far underground they were, but they had been sitting still on cold stone for a while.

“No,” Klia said, looking over her shoulder at the wild Pokemon. “I was just thinking… This Aggron must be really scared. Its whole family is hurt, its eggs are gone, and its home got taken away from it. But it still came back to try and rescue the eggs.”

Amara gave her a gentle squeeze. “You’re right. Pokemon are incredible. They do some pretty amazing things.”

Klia fell silent. Amara wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but figured it was best they stay quiet anyway. Soft breathing told her the Aggron had fallen asleep. Amara closed her eyes, sharpened her ears, and settled in for a long wait.

*************

The Aggron shifted, letting out a _creak_ that startled Amara out of her drowsiness. She blinked, silently berating herself for letting her guard slip. Klia was fully leaning on her now, her breathing soft and steady. Twisting carefully to avoid waking her, Amara looked at the Pokemon behind her. Its eyes were open and much more alert than before, latching onto her movements with cautious purpose.

She shook Klia awake, sliding out from under her as soon as the kid was supporting her own weight.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, stopping a few feet away. The Aggron blinked, offering her a low hum. Whether it had actually been trying to convey it or not, it certainly sounded better. Amara pulled out the last two berries. “Can you sit up? It’ll be easier to eat.”

The Aggron blinked at her again, but shifted its weight, pulling its legs underneath it. It lifted its great head with a groan, and nearly made it to a sitting position before starting to list back forward. Amara darted under it, supporting its shoulder with her own. Together, they pushed, and finally the Aggron was able to balance itself upright.

Amara disengaged carefully, ready to offer her support again at the slightest hint of it falling, but the movement seemed to have gotten its blood flowing. It turned its head to her, offering a low rumble of thanks.

She smiled. “Of course.” She held out the berries—which she had to admit were looking a little battered by now—but the Aggron didn’t seem to mind. It reached out with its massive, three-clawed arm and plucked one from her palm.

“Wow,” Klia whispered behind her.

Amara turned, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s like you can talk to them,” Klia explained, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Can you teach me how to do that?”

She snorted. “I wish. Being able to talk to Pokemon would make my life a lot easier.”

“But you can!” Klia protested. “They understand you, at least.”

“No,” Amara corrected, “or at least not the same way you do. There’s been a lot of research on it actually, but no one’s been able to find a definitive answer. One researcher put it a way I really liked; her theory was that Pokemon don’t understand what we say, but they can understand what we mean. Not sure if it’s true, but it sounds nice.”

Klia wrinkled her nose. “Is there a difference?”

“Sure. If Pokemon understood speech, there’d never be any confusion, see? Any trainer and any Pokemon would be able to communicate equally, at least from trainer to Pokemon. But that’s not true. There’re problems and fights all the time—often because a wild Pokemon feels threatened and doesn’t understand when a trainer tries to explain it away.”

“Then how does it work, if it’s not the words?”

Amara shrugged. “I think it has a lot to do with body language. The tone of your voice. Even how you smell. Some Pokemon can smell fear or anger on you, and they’ll react to that every time, even if your voice is saying kind words. That’s what I think, anyway. Overtime, as you get to know the Pokemon, it gets easier and easier. The real problem that some trainers forget about is doing the same in return—it’s harder to understand them than it is for them to understand you, but that only makes it all the more important.” Amara snapped her mouth shut, clicking her teeth together. She was beginning to sound like Dahlia when she lectured, and if that wasn’t a scary thought, she didn’t know what was. Amara and the Pokemon professor got along, for the most part, but secretly Amara had always found her too stiff and… academic.

“That doesn’t really make sense.”

Amara fought off the brief war of annoyance and relief to shrug. “Then you figure it out.”

Klia threw up her hands. “You know what? I changed my mind. You’re not cool. You’re lame. The lamest of the lame.”

“Joke’s on you for ever thinking I was cool,” Amara shot back with a grin. “Hey, come here for a second.”

Klia scooched over, glaring to make sure Amara knew she still thought she was lame. “What?”

Amara plopped the last berry into her hand. “Want to see if it wants another?”

Klia perked up. “What do I do?”

Amara shifted out of her way. “Always start by talking. There isn’t much risk of startling this guy, but it’s a good habit and I’ve always thought it was polite.”

She nudged Klia’s shoulder when the kid kept staring at her.

“Oh, right. Hi, Aggron. Can I give you this?”

“Good, now hold it out, and keep you palm flat. Otherwise, Pokemon might grab onto something they don’t mean to.” Klia did as she was told, her face puckered in concentration. “That’s the way. Now, you just hold still. Let it make the choice.”

Aggron gave a pleasant rumble and plucked the berry from Klia’s hand, far more gently than it had done from Amara’s. She had a feeling the Pokemon was enjoying this as much as they were. It made sense though—any Pokemon willing to risk itself like this for the missing eggs had to like younglings, whatever the species.

Klia gasped with happiness, spinning to Amara. “I did it! I think it likes me!”

“I think so too,” Amara said with a chuckle.

“Did someone show you how to do this?” Klia asked eagerly. “Like you just showed me?”

Amara made a sound halfway between a laugh and a choke. “I wish. I learned by trial and error, and got hurt in the process more than once.”

“Really?” Klia’s eyes widened.

“Yeah. Treat Pokemon with respect, or they’ll let you know exactly what they think of you.” Amara grimaced, her hand automatically going to a scar—one of many. Tracing the shape through the fabric of her shirt, she was grateful the kid hadn’t noticed any of them yet. Amara was not looking forward to answering those questions. Like most of her scars, she’d gotten it while doing something both helpful and stupid. Or, as Lucas liked to put it, being helpful in a stupid way.

Amara pushed to her feet. “Alright, now that Aggron’s feeling a little better, we need to get moving.”

Klia stood, eyebrows scrunching together. “Are you sure we should leave it?”

“It’ll be fine,” she assured her. “If anything, the noise we make will draw the other Pokemon away.”

“Oh,” Klia said, not sounding particularly reassured.

Amara mentally went through what she’d said, and sighed. She really wasn’t meant to be around children.

“Come on, let’s get moving,” she said, offering Klia a hand to her feet. “We were headed this way, right?’ Amara pointed somewhat away from where they’d found the Aggron.

Klia squinted into the darkness. “Uh. Maybe.”

“Well,” Amara said, aiming for jaunty, “it doesn’t matter, we didn’t know where we were going anyway.”

Klia made a sound that Amara decided to ignore.

Behind them, metal scraped and clinked. Amara turned, surprised to find the Aggron standing steadily on its own two feet. The healing properties of the berries and the nap must have done it wonders. It made a soft noise, gesturing in a different direction with a sweep of its horns.

“That way?” Amara said. “Huh. We weren’t as far off as I thought.”

The Aggron snorted and started walking in the direction it had indicated, its movements surprisingly smooth for its bulky frame.

Amara grinned. “An escort. Even better.”

“It’s coming with us?” Klia said, dashing to catch up.

“Sure looks like it,” she said. Hope surged in her stomach. Maybe the Aggron could show them a quick way out. If they could avoid the wild Pokemon lurking in the caves, and if she could get to one of her own Pokemon, she could come back and make sure Houndoom and Metagross got out okay. They wouldn’t leave without her. She hated leaving without them, but she needed to get Klia out of here before she could worry about anything else. She had to trust that they would take care of themselves until she could find them.

It did worry her a little that they hadn’t found her yet. With Metagross’ Metal sound, it should have been able to zero in on their location. They hadn’t sat with the Aggron long, no more than twenty or thirty minutes… but then, she had no idea how convoluted the caves leading to here were. Houndoom and Metagross certainly couldn’t have taken the way she did. Psychic didn’t work well on dark types like Houndoom, and Houndoom didn’t have fingers to hold onto the cliff even if it could have gotten up there.

Amara forced the mounting worry down. She couldn’t do anything about it now. Soon. Soon, she would. For now, all she could do was follow the injured Aggron and hope that it got them out quick.


	8. here comes the sun (doo doo doo do)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara gets a boo boo.
> 
> (this chapter gets pretty violent. fair warning.)

The Aggron led them down one tunnel after another, never speeding up from its slow lumber, but never slowing either. Amara was grateful. Klia was clearly still exhausted, despite her nap. Too much stress and running for her life in one day, Amara supposed. She was starting to flag herself, but she was careful to keep her ears open, listening for any sound that might warn them they weren’t alone. Nothing came, but still she listened. The light fluctuated quickly as they walked, verging on almost bright at times before pitching them back into nearly complete darkness. It strained her vision, starting a slow pounding headache just behind her eyes.

The Aggron turned again, and the light faded. Klia moved imperceptibly closer to Amara, but said nothing. She wasn’t sure what was going through the kid’s head, but she was pretty sure the best way to make it better was simply to get her out of the cave and then preferably as far away as possible.

Her face knocked into warm metal, and she jumped back, nearly knocking Klia over. The Aggron grunted in front of her.

“Is something wrong?” she whispered, pulling out her flashlight.

The light illuminated the Pokemon in front of her, and the solid wall of rock in front of it.

A dead end.

The Aggron grunted, not sounding overly concerned. It shifted a step backwards, centering its tail as it did so.

“Uh, Aggron?” Klia said. “I don’t think this is the right way.”

The Aggron leaned forward so quickly, Amara thought it was falling. Before she could react, it thrust its head up, colliding with the stone. Klia yelped, jumping back as debris hit her. The Aggron seemed not to notice, only lining itself up for another strike.

Amara glanced behind them, sweeping her flashlight. Aggron was making a lot of noise. If it didn’t finish before the Pokemon found them…

The Aggron slammed into the wall again, and the tiniest beams of light imaginable flickered through. Amara let out a breath. That must be why the Aggron had brought them here—it knew the walls were thin. They were almost done. Braviary was waiting outside. They’d be safe.

In the gap between one of Aggron’s strikes and the next, Amara heard a noise that popped her hope like an over inflated balloon. She spun back towards the darkness behind them. Quiet footsteps. Not Metagross’ scraping, clinking ones. Not Houndoom’s even, four legged gait punctuated by claws clicking on stone with every step. These were simple, almost human. A soft, two-beated gait that was even and measured in a way that made it sound like it might never stop. More light flooded the tunnel and Amara put her flashlight away, tugging Klia between her and the Aggron.

A shape appeared in the distance, still too far from the light for her to make sense of it. In her hand, Klia’s arm was shaking as the kid whispered to Aggron to work faster. Amara let her free hand slip to the sixth Poke ball on her belt, knowing it was a futile gesture. Even if she went through with it, that Pokemon would never fit in this tunnel.

The figure started to resolve, and she saw a bobbing head, two legs and two arms. She saw green, red, and white. She saw eyes, blood red, and glowing with hate. Behind her, Aggron struck the wall again, roaring with effort.

The figure moved closer, and Amara understood.

“Gallade,” she whispered. But no, something was wrong with it. It couldn’t be anything except a Gallade, but it didn’t look quite right.

It spread its arms, the blades on each of its elbows glowing.

“Shit,” she hissed, spinning. “Aggron, we need to get through, now!”

Aggron bellowed, slamming into the damaged wall with all its strength. The wall finally gave way, opening into a grassy field.

“Now, Klia!” she snarled, shoving the kid forward. Amara let out a piercing whistle, praying to whatever gods would listen that Braviary was close. She grabbed her phone, shoved it in Klia’s pocket, and whistled again, before risking a glance over her shoulder. The Gallade was still walking, the glow on its elbows intensifying with every step. It was toying with them. Savoring what was to come.

Klia scrambled over the broken rocks, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps. The Aggron was holding steady, but she could see the fear in its dilated pupils and too-still body. Amara followed the kid, torn between standing strong with the wild Pokemon who’d helped them and the kid that still needed protecting. If she could just get outside…

Amara’s feet hit grass, just as she heard Braviary’s cry. She loved her Pokemon so much. It must have been circling above, waiting, until it heard Aggron’s ruckus. “Get her out of here!” she shouted.

A shadow swooped over her, and she saw familiar yellow claws curl around the kid’s arms. Her good, wonderful Pokemon swooped up back towards the blue sky, pulling Klia with it.

“No!” Klia shouted, struggling against its hold. “Amara! Amara!”

Amara sprinted through the grass, trying to think of something she could say to make it better. But before she could, a blinding light shone from the tunnel, and the weight of something bigger than she was and as hard as metal hit her with the force of a train, and then she couldn’t say much at all.

********

Amara opened her eyes and saw nothing. Sounds reached her ears, but they were so distorted that she wasn’t sure they were real. She blinked. It didn’t make a difference. She tried to turn her head and found she couldn’t. The weight of the world was on her, but somehow she felt light as a feather. Intangible. She tried to shift her legs, but it didn’t work and she couldn’t quite figure out why.

A new noise came, filtering through her brain and bouncing around until she understood it—wind. Wind, whistling softly in her ears and rushing through grass. She blinked again, wishing she could see it. Except no, she couldn’t usually see wind anyway, could she? That seemed important. Or maybe not.

The weight on her shifted, and her bones groaned in protest. Gallade stood, its chin held high as its white cape rippled in the wind, its green head and red eyes in stark contrast to the blue sky. Amara blinked. When had she been able to see again? Gallade prodded Aggron again with one of its overlarge arm blades again, its sneer intensifying when the Pokemon didn’t react.

Amara watched, fascinated. She remembered now. Gallade had a Mega evolution, something that originated in the Kalos region. It was a strange thing, allowing a Pokemon to temporarily evolve to new heights of power. She’d fought a few trainers who were able to use it, and they’d been formidable opponents to say the least. She’d never seen a Gallade’s additional form, but it made sense. Or rather, it didn’t because she’d thought a trainer was necessary for a Mega evolution. And… jewelry? She wished she’d paid more attention. Still, there was no use in denying the evidence in front of her eyes.

It occurred to her that she’d been running away from this Gallade at one point, and maybe she still should be. She moved to do just that. And was stopped short. She looked down at her body, and saw a mass of gray instead. She stared at it, uncomprehending, before it occurred to her. The fog in her brain began to recede in earnest now. Aggron’s tail lay across her torso, pinning her with its weight.

Suddenly, the Gallade’s face was inches from her own and then its hand was around her throat and it was pulling, stretching her vertebrae apart and lighting her body on fire. Dimly she heard a scream, and was pretty sure it was her own.

The abuse stopped, and Amara curled into the ground gratefully. Her relief didn’t last long. With a resounding boom, the Gallade’s arm collided with Aggron’s side, knocking the larger Pokemon flying. It skidded to a stopped a few feet away. Sensation rushed through Amara’s body like wildfire, highlighting all the things wrong with her that shock or blood deprivation had hidden. Her vision wavered, the blue sky above her threatening to disappear.

A foot slammed into her side, and she found herself spinning through the air. She landed in a pile, unable to form a coherent thought, much less catch herself.

The Gallade muttered and hissed, sounding displeased. Lively prey was always more fun. Amara’s hand jerked towards her belt uselessly, the movement setting her whole shoulder to throbbing. But this was good. She shouldn’t rely on her sixth Pokemon. It deserved better than to always be cleaning up her messes. Footsteps approached, and she saw a hint of green out of the corner of her eye.

Its hand seized her by the throat, lifting her so that her feet were dangling off the ground. She gasped, floundering like a fish on a line. It hissed, leaning its face in close. For the first time in her life, she was glad she didn’t understand when Pokemon talked.

Its grip tightened as its mouth split into a feral grin. Its eyes were bottomless with hate. Amara felt herself tipping forward, like it meant to drown her in them, but it only lifted her higher, increasing the pressure on her neck.

Dimly, she heard a familiar screech. Somehow, her eyes managed to lift towards the sound. Braviary, her beautiful, wonderful Braviary, was circling above. Amara’s heart stuttered. Why hadn’t it left? This Gallade could not be allowed anywhere near the kid. Had it left her somewhere? But then she heard the screaming, and the understanding came like cold molasses dripping off a spoon.

Klia was seated atop Braviary, holding on with only her legs so that she could cup her hands around her mouth. Her hair was flying free behind her, a billowing flag of shiny black, and it caught Amara’s attention so much that it took her a moment to realize the screaming for what it was. Words. Klia was screaming, at the Gallade or her she wasn’t sure.

The Gallade lifted her further, and suddenly keeping her eyes up was too difficult. She wanted to scream back, at the kid to leave, at Braviary to make her, at the Gallade for too many reasons to count, at Lucas for being right. But she was having trouble finding the breath to keep her vision from swimming.

It occurred to her that she might finally have done it. Found what everyone in her life warned her she might. A mess that she could bumble her way into, just like she always did, and be unable to bumble her way out.

It occurred to her that she might be dying.

Klia’s hoarse screams rang in her ears, muffled as if by water. She blinked. A sea of red hate stared back at her. And she knew that she could not let this happen. She couldn’t let the kid see this. Her right hand twitched. She’d hadn’t been able to bring herself to use her sixth Pokemon for a long time. But for the kid? For the kid, she thought she might be forgiven. She’d demolish mountains, and break every bone in her body, if it meant the kid was safe, and she might be forgiven.


	9. one kind of love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara gets help from a friend.
> 
> (not too much longer to go! one more chapter, maybe two!!)

Amara swung her arm feebly towards her belt, gritting her teeth against the fire in in her shoulder. She swung it again, even as the Gallade lifted her. Her thumb caught on something round, as Gallade’s blade began to glow. Then her thumb found nothing but open air.

Gallade let her go and swung with its glowing blade.

She stared, as it seemed to move in slow motion, closer, and closer.

Amara let out her breath and surrendered herself to fate.

The hit never came. In an instant, she was swept up by something warm and muscular and a cry like a thousand resounding bells tore through the air. Air rushed into her lungs and blood flooded into her head, coaxing a giddy laugh from between her teeth. Above, the sky darkened. Amara forced her eyes to focus, and realized she could still see Gallade. It was twenty feet below, screaming its rage at having its toy taken away.

Something gentle brushed her mind, and she was overwhelmed by foreign concern and anger. She tried to whisper that she was okay, but she couldn’t get her lips to form the words. Wind gusted around her face and the ground rushed up to meet her, the Gallade seeming to zoom further away without it moving. She found herself being deposited on the ground. Her legs folded under her like they’d lost their bones along the way. She slumped forward, managing to catch herself with an elbow to not fall completely over. A nose pressed itself to her forehead, almost tenderly, letting out a warm cloud of air that swirled around her face.

And she felt weak and safe and guilty and relieved. And tired. So unbelievably tired.

Then, Gallade was blotted out by a mass of white, dotted with bits of blue. Gallade roared again, so loudly, and so full of fury, but her friend, her partner, her sixth and final Pokemon roared back, and the sound of it clanging in her head like a bell and pulling tears from her eyes. The Gallade’s cry disappeared in the cacophony. Powerful or not, strangely evolved or not, there were few that could stand up to a legendary Pokemon and not be cowed. Lugia flared its pearl-white wings and roared again, as if daring its opponent to touch her again. Her Lugia. Her partner. The one she’d never deserved.

She hadn’t understood, at first. It’d been a week since they’d battled together, against some threat that blended in with all the others. It had been wild with rage… Her mind grasped for the details, but they floated just out of reach. She supposed it didn’t matter. Together, they’d won. It had disappeared. She hadn’t expected any less. It wasn’t often that she dealt with the Pokemon of legends, but often enough that she’d learned that this was their way. To disappear into the night, as if they’d never been there in the first place.

A week later, she’d woken up and it had been there. Just sitting there, next to a fire long since out as the quiet sounds of a forest greeting the morning surrounded them. Watching her. She hadn’t understood. She’d offered to help it, but seemingly nothing was wrong. She’d given it food, which it took. Then, at a loss for what else to do, she’d left.

It had followed.

It went on like this for months. If she came around other people, it disappeared, but otherwise it was like having a second, enormous shadow. It watched her as she went about her duties, travelling the continent, and curled up next to her fire every night.

Lucas was the first person to see it, and she still wasn’t sure if it had been an accident or not. Truth be told, she rather doubted it. It had hidden the first few times he came around, even when it was just him and Amara. One morning, he arrived at her camp and Lugia had just been there. She’d admitted what had been happening to him.

Lucas had understood immediately.

“It wants to come with you,” he’d said.

She’d flashed a glare up at him as she’d started the fire back up to cook breakfast. “Tell me something I don’t know. It’s not like I can stop it.”

He’d laughed at that. “No, Amara—can’t you see it? I think it wants to join you. I think it wants to help.”

She hadn’t known what to say then. Now, she thought she should’ve told it that it was making a mistake.

The gentle presence nudged her mind, like a quiet chastisement, before retreating to focus on the matter at hand.

Lugia reared back its slender neck, and the air seemed to deaden as power gathered between its jaws. The Gallade charged with a snarl, loosing slashes of energy from its blades as it went. The hits connected, but Lugia didn’t seem to care.

The energy exploded from its mouth in a beam that didn’t qualify as any color Amara could name. The beam caught Gallade full on the chest. It staggered, dropping to a knee. Lugia winged forward, its tail catching Gallade by the chin in a wicked uppercut. It managed to right itself in the air, flinging more slashes of energy from its elbows. Lugia bellowed its displeasure, and swung its wings. Wind rushed off it with the force of a hurricane, deflecting Gallade’s attack.

The wild Pokemon managed to land on its feet, darting in close with its fists, slashing and punching with equal vigor. Lugia avoided the first, but the Gallade was getting desperate. A slash connected directly with Lugia’s wing, followed by a fist to the neck.

Lugia whipped itself around like a snake, its tail connecting with Gallade’s torso. Gallade hadn’t hit the ground before its opponent was preparing another Hyper beam. Amara saw in its eyes the moment it realized what was about to happen.

Lugia let the beam fly. A cloud of dust flew up, obscuring the battlefield. Amara coughed weakly, squinting against the sudden grit in her eyes. Lugia flapped its wings once, and the dust disappeared in a burst of wind, gone as if it had never been.

Gallade lay still on the ground. It looked smaller than before, its blades more the size she remembered and its cape gone. Amara let out a sigh of relief that came out more as a sob. Lugia reared back its head, and roared its victory, daring any other Pokemon to try their luck.

It turned to her, that gentle presence nudging her mind again.

She managed to squeeze out a silent _Thank you,_ before the pain overtook her entirely, and she succumbed to the dark.


	10. high flyin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara hitches a ride.

Someone was talking to her. The words didn’t make any sense, but the familiar rumble of the voice was full of warmth and she gladly took shelter in it. Something was jostling her, in a rhythmic, predictable way. It wouldn’t be terrible, could even have been comforting, except that every movement sparked pain throughout her whole body.

A gust of air distracted her from the mystery, and she saw Lugia flying, looking for all the world like it was out for joy of it, despite the Aggron hanging limp from its feet and the Gallade slung over its back. She smiled at it. It was so much more than she deserved. She wasn’t surprised to see it and that… confused her. But the thought felt greased, and every time she reached for it, it slipped away. Seeming to sense her attention, it looked over with a quiet greeting. It brushed her mind and she brushed back, like two old friends bumping shoulders by a fire. But if Lugia was flying… She looked down. A giant yellow dragon soared underneath her, a Dragonite as old and dear to her as its trainer.

Something tightened around her, and her heart skipped a beat. “Amara?”

With great effort, Amara turned her head. Halfway through, a hand caught her chin and helped her. She found herself looking into Lucas’ dark eyes, his face stained with tears and determination.

Despite the pain, a smile spread across her face. “Lucas,” she breathed.

“Amara,” he said, sounding like he was going to choke.

“I knew you’d come.” Every word was an effort, but he was here and nothing mattered any more.

Lucas flinched, and she wondered if she’d said something wrong. His arm tightened around her, pulling her close to his chest as he pressed his forehead into her hair. “You’re going to be okay, you hear me?” he whispered fiercely. “You’re going to get better, so I can be mad at you for getting into trouble without me.”

Amara stared into the fabric of his shirt, wishing she could pull back and look him in the eye. “Wasn’t your fault,” she mumbled. “Mine. Always mine. You were right. About the kid, about everything.” Her eyes widened, and she struggled weakly against his grip. “Klia. Where’s—”

He eased up, letting her fall against his arm so that she could see him. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. She’s fine. She’s the one who called me. I had Braviary take her to my parents.”

Amara relaxed fractionally. “And Houndoom? Metagross?”

“Safely in their Poke balls. Greninja too. I think Lugia must have called them to you.”

“Oh.” Amara let her head tilt back, watching the clouds race by above them. She’d always loved flying, especially the lazy kind, when Braviary caught thermal after thermal, its wings barely needing to flap, as the two of them watched the land and sky roll past them. Her brain was coming back to her, slowly, and she almost felt like herself again. A hazy, painful version of herself still—but herself.

“Do you really believe that?” Lucas’ voice hadn’t changed, but she couldn’t help feeling his tension when she was sitting in his lap.

“Hmm?”

He tucked his chin, still not quite looking at her. “Believe that this is all your fault.”

Amara closed her eyes against the clouds. “Would I be wrong? I nearly got the lot of us killed. Klia ran off because I wasn’t watching her. Umbreon got hurt because I wasn’t there with them. I abandoned Metagross and Houndoom in there, and without that wild Aggron, we never would’ve gotten out at all. So no, I’m not too happy with myself. You were right. I should’ve taken Klia home the second I found her.”

By the end, despite her quiet tone, she was nearly shaking with effort, her ribs screaming in protest. Lucas was silent for a long moment, and a pang of anguish threatened to break her barely held together composure.

“No,” he finally whispered. “I was wrong. I didn’t—what I said, before, it was because I was scared. Things have been hard for you, and I was scared of losing you. But when you said you were taking care of Klia, I didn’t trust you. I didn’t believe you could do it, and I’ll never forgive myself for that.” His lips twisted into a sardonic smile. “Pretty typical of you to prove me wrong in the most dramatic fashion you could. You saved her, Amara. Sure, you made mistakes, but you didn’t become Champion by being perfect either. 

“You did what you always do—you saw someone in need, and you helped. I’m sorry I didn’t understand that at first. But when Klia called me, asked me to come help, she let slip a few things I don’t think she meant to. I pushed you to take her home, but now I’m not sure that was ever an option. If you’d listened to me, all you would’ve been doing was kicking her out the door.”

Lucas looked at her for real, with a tiny smile and eyes that looked at her like she was something that could never be understood. “You really did a number on that kid, you know. She was beside herself. I spent half the call trying to get her coherent enough to tell me what was wrong.”

The tears came, and Amara could do nothing to stop them. So she didn’t try. She let the sobs wrack her body and accepted the pain that came with them. She cried into Lucas’ shoulder, perversely glad to find him shaking too. She didn’t deserve him. One day, he’d figure that out. But maybe, just maybe, by then she would.

Dragonite soared through the sky, Lugia never more than a wingbeat away. Lucas was at her back. The world was a terrible place sometimes. Right now, Amara couldn’t find it in herself to care.

They landed just outside of a hospital. Lucas must have warned them they were coming, because a crowd of nurses was already outside, waiting with a stretcher. Lugia brushed her mind, offering her an image of the Pokemon center. She thanked it, and it wheeled off with its charges. She wasn’t sure why it had brought the Gallade along, but she found she was glad of it.

Dragonite leaned forward gently, until its nose was almost touching the ground, before Lucas helped her off. Well, maybe not helped. Carried. Amara didn’t complain. She wasn’t sure exactly what was wrong with her yet, but she was pretty sure something in her shoulder was broken, along with maybe a few ribs. Her head swam as he moved her, nausea threatening to overwhelm her.

Then, she was on the stretcher and she was being whisked away, and Lucas’ face disappeared in the crowd.


	11. said and done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara starts to feel better.

Amara was sitting up in her hospital bed, staring out the window. Being Champion did have some perks, which apparently included a scramble to find her not only a bed with a window, but one that looked out on a small park. Down below, some kids were playing in the grass with their Pokemon, taking turns chasing one another.

“Remind you of anyone?”

She turned to her companion and smiled. “You know, you don’t have to stay with me all the time, Lucas. I know how busy you are.”

“Yeah, about that.” Lucas turned in his chair, leaning towards her with an arm thrown over the windowsill. “I’ve officially decided I’m too busy.”

Amara frowned. “You love your job.”

He shrugged. “Sure. But I loved the parts I got to do before I took over the company. I’ve been talking to the board about switching things up for a while now, but it looks like we finally have a good candidate to take my spot.”

“What does that mean?”

He grinned at her. “More travel time. More research. More adventures. I’m not leaving the company; I’m just stepping into a different role. Head of Procurements and Outreach, a new division instituted by yours truly.”

She smiled back, too confused to muster any feeling to put behind it. “I didn’t know you weren’t happy.”

He looked down for a second, then abruptly stood, bringing his chair over to the side of her bed. “I was. And I wasn’t. I got to do a lot of things I always wanted to do. I think—I hope—we did a lot of good for the world. But I also had to give up a lot of things that were important to me.” His hand twitched, like it wanted to reach for something, but he only clasped it together with his other one. “You know, I haven’t sat down and had dinner with my parents in three years. My Pokemon are bored. They hardly get to battle more than once a month, and even then, it’s been a while since we had a good one. I guess what I’m saying is, I miss the old days. The travelling, the rivalry, never knowing what was going to happen one day to the next. And we can’t get them back, I know that, but… I need it more than I thought I would.”

Amara nodded slowly. She’d gone about it in a different way, but her problems hadn’t been so different from what he was saying. Being Champion had become lonely. Being strong had become boring. Eventually, there’d been nothing left to stop her responsibilities from dragging her under.

“What are you going to do?”

A year ago, or even a week, that question would have filled her with dread, seizing up her throat and sent her gaze skittering to the floor. Now, she just said, “I’m not really sure. I need to take Aggron home, and there were some strange things going on with that Gallade. Plus, I need to figure something out for Klia. I have a few ideas, but…” She took a moment to steel herself. “I—I don’t think I’m going to stay in the forest. Not all the time, anyway. It wasn’t… good for me.”

He nodded, and the movement was restrained but fierce. If he’d had his way, he probably wouldn’t have let her go there in the first place.

“You know,” he said, “I actually have business coming up in Pointe Vail. They’re still having problems with that Haxorus.”

A smile, a true one, split her face. “I think that might just work out. Think Klia would want to come?”

Amusement sparked in Lucas’ eyes. “I think you should ask her yourself.”

Amara turned to the door with a frown, just as Klia burst through.

“Amara!” she yelled, launching herself onto the bed. Amara winced, counting silently to ten as her definitely broken ribs complained, but hugged the kid back anyway. Klia pulled back, looking up at her with watery eyes. “They wouldn’t let me see you.”

“I’m sorry. They had to take me into surgery almost right away, and after that, I was so drugged up that I wouldn’t have been able to talk to you anyway.” She brushed her thumb over Klia’s cheek, wiping away a tear track. “Are you okay?”

Klia nodded vigorously, shifting back to sit cross-legged on the bed. “Lucas’ mom and dad are being really nice to me. Did you know they were Pokemon breeders? They’ve even been letting be help take care of some of the Pokemon!”

“That’s good to hear,” Amara said, ignoring Lucas’ look. She’d ended up in a similar situation, even younger than Klia was now. Lucas’ parents had been the ones to gift her with her very first Pokemon—a runty Houndour.

“When are you getting out of here?” Klia asked.

Lucas frowned, opening his mouth, but Amara cut him off with a look. She’d broken two ribs, fractured another, suffered a concussion, strained her knee, and broken a small bone in her shoulder she’d never heard of before. She didn’t disagree that rest was in order, but she did disagree about where she should get that rest. And it just so happened that she found Braviary’s back particularly restful. Besides, she really did need to get Aggron home. “Soon,” she promised.

Lucas rolled his eyes, but said nothing. She waited until Klia glanced away and stuck her tongue out at him. He held a hand to his chest, with a silent, mortally offended gasp.

She turned her attention back to Klia. “Have you gone to see Aggron?”

Klia blinked, sitting up straight. “Yes, but that reminds me.” She reached into her bag, still talking. “Aggron’s feeling better, it was up and exploring the Pokemon Center when I went. I think Nurse Joy is worried it’ll take off on its own soon, but I tried to tell it you were coming back to fly it home. Ah! Here you go!” Klia pulled Poke balls out of her bag, one after another, until all six were resting on Amara’s legs. Amara touched them, reverently, trying to convey without words how much they meant to her. Faintly, she felt Lugia brush her mind.

She looked up at Klia. “Thank you.”

“And!” Klia said, holding up a finger. “There’s something I’m supposed to tell you. Professor Dahlia wants to talk to you about the Gallade. She has some ideas and wants to know what you saw. _I_ already told her that it had a cape and I was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to but she said she still wanted to talk to you.” Klia shrugged, as if this explained everything.

“Wow, that’s—” Amara started to say, but Klia had already launched into a story about a Pokemon she’d seen while visiting Aggron. Lucas was chuckling silently next to her, abruptly throwing on a thoughtful expression when Klia looked his way. Amara was pretty sure the kid hadn’t remembered to be mad about Lugia yet, but when she did, Amara was never going to hear the end of it.

So Amara just smiled and listened, her Pokemon back with her and her best friend at her side. The world wasn’t perfect, but it could be a whole lot worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I can't believe this is done! This is really my first time posting on a site like this, and it's still a bit intimidating. The story is far from perfect (when did those chapters start getting so short??) but my goal was to finish, so I'm happy! Hope you guys enjoyed! There's some continuations in the works, but we'll get there when we get there. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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